The sadness you feel is not your own. It's his sadness you feel in your heart, Amy, for missing you.

Writing is a job: you must show up.

If you are writing any book about the end of the world, what you are really writing about is what's worth saving about it.

I came to Houston for a job, the reason most people move halfway across the country with a first grader and a five-week-old. I came here to teach at Rice.

There's an outline for each of the books that I adhere to pretty closely, but I'm not averse to taking it in a new direction, as long as I can get it back to where I need it to go.

So, whenever I'm writing, I'm writing in the presence of all the other books I've read and I think we all are.

Real courage is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. Doing the unpopular thing because it's what you believe, and the heck with everybody.